LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Beltaine
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Beltaine is the Celtic festival held on the first day of May, celebrating the beginning of summer and open pasturing. Beltane was one of two turning points in the year, the other being November 1 (Samhain), the start of winter. At both, the bounds between the human and supernatural worlds were erased. On May Eve, witches and fairies roamed freely, and measures had to be taken against their enchantments. As late as the 19th century in Ireland, cattle were driven between two bonfires on Beltane as a magical means of protecting them from disease.
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Beltaine is Brand's daughter. She was found by Gerard during a visit to Tir-Na Nog'th in the year 89 PPF, apparently a child some seven years of age. Officially declared Random's Ward, she was brought up largely by Vialle until the age of thirteen, when a separate household was set up for her in Castle Amber - a move predominantly designed to allay any Family fears that she might be fully adopted by the King and ... find her way into the line of succession. To all appearances, though, once he got past an initial wariness of her, Random has treated his ward almost like his own daughter. She was always a little hurt deep down that he didn't adopt her fully - even though as she got older she did understand why. As a result, she feels somewhat 'half-accepted' and uncomfortable in the Family.
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Weaving the Tapestry of Life - The fire festival of Beltaine is most notably a fertility festival. In ancient times, communities were known to perform various and sundry sexual acts out in the freshly plowed and sown fields in order to ensure fertile crops and a bountiful harvest. The joining of a man and woman out in the fields mirrored the sexual union of the Goddess and God and since the human body was viewed as a sacred temple, the uniting of two bodies through sexual union was considered a sacred rite. When blatant public sexual acts became inappropriate with the changing times, communities developed new ways to ritualize this union. The maypole is one of those rituals. You may be aware of the weaving of the maypole as men and women dance around with ribbons, moving over and under and over again, but you may not be aware of the ritualized preparation of the maypole.
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Beltaine has not aged visibly since walking the Pattern in her eighteenth year. Tall and willowy, a little too thin, with delicate features and deep shadows beneath her fey green eyes. Her expression is sweet, but a little lost-unless she is focusing hard, she has a slightly distant look; a fey effect which only enhances her (sometimes literally!) ethereal and slightly exotic beauty. When she does concentrate, her gaze and expression become very intense - her resemblance to Brand is very strong on these occasions. As the moon over Amber waxes, her hair slowly turns from midnight black to moonlight pale, as her skin pales and takes on a silvery sheen. Since walking the Pattern in the Sky, she fades to a ghostly, semi-ethereal state when the moon is at its fullest and Tir-Na Nog'th is visible.
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Beltaine is traditionally associated with Spring, with blossoms, with fertility -- and with marriage. Beltaine fires, maypole dancing, how many phallic symbols can you fit into a Sabbat? It's the main fertility festival, a time to celebrate the union of the Lord and Lady and the impregnation of the Goddess. Crops planted at Imbolc will be showing their first shoots (weather permitting, of course!). This is ... the time for Spring Cleaning, on a personal level as well as in the home!
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Beltaine has long been known as a time of great celebration and happiness in the spirit of love and spring. Feasting, dancing, music, drinking, tournaments, and lovemaking (it's good for the crops!) were all avidly partaken of as the festival proceeded often right through the night. A reenactment of the Ride of Lady Godiva was for a time very popular in Coventry until Puritan times, and very interesting in symbolism. In villages all over Europe, a woman was elected Queen of the May, often with a kingly consort, to lead in the celebrations as a representative of the goddess. A less fun, but practical, tradition of Beltaine is that of "Beating the Bounds," or walking around the perimeter of ones property to fix any boundary markers or fences in need of repairing. It is ... a time to think of planting and maintaining crops, again not fun but necessary.
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Beltaine